S._]

In S. Francesco, without the Porta a San Miniato, there is a Madonna in
a round picture by the hand of Sandro, with some angels of the size of
life, which was held a very beautiful work. Sandro was a man of very
pleasant humour, often playing tricks on his disciples and his friends;
wherefore it is related that once, when a pupil of his who was called
Biagio had made a round picture exactly like the one mentioned above, in
order to sell it, Sandro sold it for six florins of gold to a citizen;
then, finding Biagio, he said to him, "At last I have sold this thy
picture; so this evening it must be hung on high, where it will be seen
better, and in the morning thou must go to the house of the citizen who
has bought it, and bring him here, that he may see it in a good light in
its proper place; and then he will pay thee the money." "O, my master,"
said Biagio, "how well you have done." Then, going into the shop, he
hung the picture at a good height, and went off. Meanwhile Sandro and
Jacopo, who was another of his disciples, made eight caps of paper, like
those worn by citizens, and fixed them with white wax on the heads of
the eight angels that surrounded the Madonna in the said picture. Now,
in the morning, up comes Biagio with his citizen, who had bought the
picture and was in the secret. They entered the shop, and Biagio,
looking up, saw his Madonna seated, not among his angels, but among the
Signoria of Florence, with all those caps. Thereupon he was just about
to begin to make an outcry and to excuse himself to the man who had
bought it, when, seeing that the other, instead of complaining, was
actually praising the picture, he kept silent himself. Finally, going
with the citizen to his house, Biagio received his payment of six
florins, the price for which his master had sold the picture; and then,
returning to the shop just as Sandro and Jacopo had removed the paper
caps, he saw his angels as true angels, and not as citizens in their
caps. All in a maze, and not knowing what to say, he turned at last to
Sandro and said: "Master, I know not whether I am dreaming, or whether
this is true. When I came here before, these angels had red caps on
their heads, and now they have not; what does it mean?" "Thou art out of
thy wits, Biagio," said Sandro; "this money has turned thy head. If it
were so, thinkest thou that the citizen would have bought the picture?"
"It is true," replied Biagio, "that he said nothing to me abou